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Shortages Frustrating Libyans In Tripoli

Bread is in drastically short supply after most of the bakers who were Egyptian labourers, fled to their native country as unrest worsened.

[Global: Libya]

It has become so frustrating to try and drive around in search of one’s needs in the Libyan capital. Tripoli residents are feeling the sting of shortages resulting from the three-month uprising that took off from Benghazi in mid-February.

The shortages are affecting daily life as international sanctions have begun to be felt and many supply routes have become unstable. The shortages are not just in food and commodities, but also of skilled people in some sectors to keep the city running smoothly.

Shortage of fuel at the petrol stations and the wait to fill up their car tanks has become unbearable for the residents at times. Soldiers guarding gas stations have had to endure abuse and screaming from motorists wasting time in kilometres-long fuel lines with the hope of getting their needs.

The situation gets so irksome sometimes, that some motorists are even abandoning their cars hoping to return to them when the situation improves.

Along the road linking Tripoli to Libya's western border with Tunisia, long fuel lines were visible in a series of coastal towns. Libyan-plated cars crowded gas stations in two small Tunisian towns close to the border, and a taxi driver there complained that shortages in Libya were driving up the price in Tunisia.

Shortages were apparent in other ways as well. AP reported a few dozen people crowding around a bakery in central Tripoli, unsure if its good were being depleted. Bread is in drastically short supply after most of the bakers who were Egyptian labourers, fled to their native country as unrest worsened....